Gogoi under fire for new NRC proposal

AASU stages state-wide protest, says the proposal is part of a ploy to safeguard the Bangladeshi population in Assam

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, June 24: A day after Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi proposed inclusion of all persons whose mes appeared on the electoral rolls in the tion Register of Citizens (NRC), organizations and individuals today rejected the idea saying it was against the spirit of the Assam Accord.

The All Assam Students Union said the proposal, if implemented, will lead to annihilation of the Assamese community.

“The proposal is in sharp contrast to the Supreme Court guidelines and is against the interest of the indigenous community. The Chief Minister should stop his traitor-like activities. How can he override the apex court guidelines?” said AASU’s chief advisor Sammujal Bhattacharjee.

He said the proposal was part of a ploy to safeguard the Bangladeshi population in the State.

 The student body today burnt effigies throughout the State in protest against the Chief Minister’s move to shoot off a letter to the Central government, demanding inclusion of all persons whose mes appeared on the electoral rolls of the country by virtue of them ‘being Indians’, in the updated NRC.

Assam Public Works president Aabhijeet Sarma said the move is a “U-turn” by the Chief Minister.

“The Supreme Court has already outlined the guidelines for the process. The Congress wants to create a controversy and confuse the people. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi needs to take some patriotism lessons from Speaker Prab Kumar Gogoi,” Sarma, whose organization is one of the petitioners in the NRC case at the apex court, said.

The APW chief was also critical of former minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and questioned as to why he did not say anything for the “sons of the soil” when he was the Assam Accord Implementation minister. “He did not say anything when he was a minister nor did he take up the matter at the cabinet meetings. His sudden zest is rather funny,” the APW said.

The AGP also strongly opposed Gogoi’s proposal and insisted that no person who entered Assam after 1971 can get mes enrolled in the NRC.

Though the Chief Minister has proposed that ‘genuine Indian citizens whose mes figure in the electoral rolls’ should be included in the NRC, he did not mention as to which year’s electoral roll he was referring.

As of now, the 1951 NRC and electoral rolls up to 1971 are considered the basic documents for inclusion into NRC as far as legacy data is concerned.